Nobel News

In 1947, the American Friends Service Committee and Friends Service Council in Britain accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of all Quakers. As a Nobel laureate, AFSC is able to nominate a candidate for the Peace Prize to the Oslo Committee. In 2011 I joined the committee that chooses that nominee on behalf of the AFSC, and this year, 2012, I became the Clerk (chair) of that committee.  It consists of twelve people on three continents.

The committee is tasked with considering possible nominees, researching and vetting candidates proposed by ourselves and others. We meet on monthly conference calls through the year, then in the fall we travel to Pendle Hill, a Quaker retreat center near Philadelphia, to discern our final choice together and draft a letter of nomination. I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to do this work, and profoundly impressed by the people with whom I get to serve on the committee, many of whom are engaged in their own extremely important humanitarian and social justice efforts.

We recently announced last year’s nominee, Dr. Hawa Abdi of Somalia.  If you would like to read our nomination letter, which speaks of Dr. Abdi and her work, please click here.

The new call for nominees has just gone up as well, and can be found here.  We sincerely welcome your contributions to this work.  If you would like to put forward a candidate, we ask that you please supporting information with your nomination. Before submitting a name, please read through the guidelines we consider in that discernment, and help us to understand why you find this candidate compelling. More information about the AFSC’s process and guidelines, as well as a pdf form for submitting a possible nominee, are here.

Peace,

David